Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,949 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 507 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 232.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 7,824 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 39.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,345,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $176,695,000 after purchasing an additional 383,827 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 322.9% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 20,039 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,632,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $2,995,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.63.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $199.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $105.51 and a 1-year high of $199.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $165.86 and a 200-day moving average of $142.62. The company has a market capitalization of $143.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.40, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.49.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.21%.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.